A Study On The Influence Of Project-based Learning (PjBL) On The Development Of Engineering Practice Competence Of Undergraduate

The current global engineering education reform and Emerging Engineering Education construction have formed a historic intersection,it is urgent to combine the new trend of engineering education reform,deepen and expand the understanding of the engineering practice competence,and define the training objectives of Emerging Engineering Education.The traditional courses and teaching methods cannot meet the demands of the industry for the ability of engineering graduates,so it is imperative to innovate the teaching theories and methods of engineering education.In this context,Project-based Learning(hereinafter referred to as PjBL)has been introduced into Chinese engineering curriculum and teaching reform and has been widely used,but its actual effect,influence mechanism and other fundamental issues still need to be revealed by scientific research.Therefore,this study adopts mixed study to evaluate the effectiveness of PjBL in promoting the development of students’ engineering practice competence,deeply explore its mechanism,summarize the challenges faced by PjBL in the implementation process,and put forward corresponding countermeasures and suggestions,so as to help us to have a deeper understanding of the relationship between PjBL and engineering talent training,and provide empirical basis and theoretical guidance for the development of the talent training of Emerging Engineering Education.This study first traces the origins of PjBL to further clarify the definition of PjBL,reveal the characteristics of PjBL,deepen the understanding of the essence of PjBL,and lay a foundation for subsequent mixed research.Then,taking the PjBL course of a research-based university in China as the research object,a mixed research method of qualitative exploration followed by quantitative test is adopted to study the mechanism of how PjBL affects the development of engineering practice ability of undergraduates.Firstly,through qualitative research,the key elements of PjBL curriculum and their influence relationship are explored.The results show that:(1)Project situation and teacher support are two key elements that constitute the supportive learning environment of PjBL course.(2)According to the level of students’ learning engagement and its dynamic changes,the learning involvement of the surveyed students can be classified into six types,which are the state of being perfunctory,being orderly,being full strength,slight improvement,to a better state and being overly ambitious.Among them,students’ learning involvement is affected by project situation and teacher support to some extent.(3)Students’ learning gains from participating in PjBL courses can be summarized into six aspects: engineering design ability,interdisciplinary thinking ability,engineering operation ability,project management ability,engineering communication ability and team cooperation ability.There are some differences in learning gains among students with different learning involvement levels.Then,through quantitative research,the learning effect of PjBL course,the important factors affecting the development of students’ engineering practice competence and their action mechanism are tested.The results show that:(1)Engineering practice competence can be formed by engineering design ability,interdisciplinary thinking ability,engineering operation ability,engineering communication ability,project management ability and team cooperation ability.PjBL has a good overall effect on promoting the development of students’ engineering practice competence.(2)Project situation,teacher support,cognitive adjustment and reflection,seeking teacher help and peer learning are are five important influencing factors.The development of engineering operation ability and project management ability is mainly realized through peer learning.The development of interdisciplinary thinking ability is mainly realized by seeking the help of teachers.The development of engineering design ability is mainly realized through cognitive regulation and reflection.The development of teamwork ability is mainly realized through peer learning,cognitive regulation and reflection.The development of engineering communication ability is mainly realized through seeking the help of teachers,cognitive adjustment and reflection.(3)The learning environment of PjBL course will affect students’ learning involvement,and then promote the development of students’ engineering practice competence.Among them,the challenge level of project tasks and teachers’ cognitive support mainly promote students’ learning involvement by meeting their competence;teachers’ emotional support can increase students’ sense of connection and promote their learning involvement.Project tasks which can stimulate students’ curiosity promote individuals to generate situational interest,and promote their learning involvement;the usefulness of project tasks can enhance students’ learning motivation and promote their learning involvement.Finally,the study describes the challenges PjBL poses to teaching and related management work and systems.In view of these challenges,this study suggests to carry out teaching training for teachers to improve their teaching ability,reform teacher reward system to encourage teachers’ teaching involvement,deepen school-enterprise cooperation to promote enterprise’ participation and support,and build an integrated curriculum to promote the reform of PjBL system.